Before hopping in the shower one day early last week, I flipped on the heater that corresponded to the bedroom section of the house. After finishing, I grabbed a snack and sat down at my desk to answer a few emails before dashing out to Target for pumpkin purée (for this amazing pumpkin pie recipe for Thanksgiving!) and head to a Girls Night. Since our gas and electricity bill is already high enough because of how often I bake, I turned the heater back off before leaving the house.
After an incredibly fun evening of munching on the best crispy house-made potato chips at a cute restaurant, giggling through the recently released “Love the Coopers” movie at the theater, and chatting with both old and new friends, I finally arrived home eight hours later and switched the heater back on so I wouldn’t freeze while doing a little work before bed.
Ten minutes later, I stood up and planted my feet right under the vent in the ceiling. Looking up, I felt nothing. No hot air blowing, no cold air blowing… Just nothing.
The following evening, the repairman tinkered around with it before announcing that the heater’s motor had broken, and he would install a new one for us when the replacement part arrived the following week. He also showed us how to start the heater by hand in the meantime while we waited for him to return.
Because I didn’t want to risk numb fingers and toes, we pulled a few little space heaters out of storage that day, and I wore as many layers—shirts, sweaters, scarves, even beanies—as needed to stay warm. I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold!
But the silver lining of the broken heater debacle was that it provided the perfect excuse to drink lots of this 35-Calorie Hot Chocolate! Between both the classic plain and festive peppermint versions, we washed plenty of mugs over the past week… And I foresee many more in the near future!
This recipe is beyond easy. You just need 4 ingredients, most of which you already stash in your pantry and fridge. Even better, it’s ready in only a few minutes and costs a lot less than driving over to the coffee shop to get your holiday hot chocolate fix!
This simple hot chocolate begins with unsweetened cashew milk. It has just 25 calories per cup and a thicker consistency than regular dairy-based milk, as well as soy and almond milks, which makes it perfect for hot chocolate (and this homemade pumpkin spice coffee creamer, too!). Its creaminess makes the hot chocolate taste a little more decadent, almost like it’s made with a hint of real cream!
The most important ingredients are the cocoa powder and the vanilla crème stevia. You can’t have hot chocolate without some sort of chocolate and sweetener! Cocoa powder provides the rich chocolaty taste for a fraction of the calories of melted chocolate, so you’ll use 1 full tablespoon in each serving.
As for the other ingredient, vanilla crème stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s really concentrated. A little goes a long way! It comes in a small glass bottle with an eyedropper, and you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. I love the SweetLeaf brand because of its warm vanilla flavor.
Tip: You’ll also use the same vanilla crème stevia in these recipes of mine!
♥ Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte
♥ Skinny Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
♥ Skinny Gingerbread Latte
♥ Skinny Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Pie
♥ Cinnamon Roll Almond Butter
♥ Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
♥ and more!
So now, all that’s left to do is whisk those ingredients together in a small saucepan—plus a few drops of peppermint extract, if you want a festive holiday version!—and warm them over medium-low heat. Try your best to incorporate as much of the cocoa powder as possible before turning on the stove, but any lingering tiny clumps will dissolve in the hot milk. Then…
Pour yourself a mug and enjoy!
| 35-Calorie Hot Chocolate | | Print |
- 2 cups (480mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- 2 tbsp (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 12 drops vanilla crème stevia, or to taste
- 3 drops peppermint extract (optional)
- Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan, and whisk together until the cocoa powder is mostly incorporated. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, for 3-5 minutes or until warmed through. Pour into mugs and enjoy.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low calorie, sugar-free}
I am obsessed with cashew milk! It’s so creamy and delicious!
I agree Shannon! 🙂
This hot chocolate looks incredibly delicious! Yum!!
Thanks Marsha! 🙂
Oh Amy, that is so sad! Bless your heart! No wonder you needed some hot drinks. And WOW this is a life saver of a recipe. Cashew milk has my heart, as does hot chocolate!
Thanks Mary Frances! If only we lived closer… We could hang out and drink lots of hot chocolate all the time! 🙂
Could you share what kind of cocoa powder you used? I tried this with Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, which is my favorite for cakes and breads and things. But it turned out very bitter, even with a good amount of Stevia. I was careful about measuring the right amount of cocoa: added a little less in fact.
I used Hershey’s regular unsweetened cocoa powder. Since there’s a lot of cocoa powder and not very much stevia, the regular version, rather than the Special Dark, still produces a dark chocolate taste in this recipe without it being overly bitter. I hope that works better for you Krithika!
A wonderful hot cocoa to sip and savor, breaking away from your troubles just for a moment….
Thanks for your kind words Michelle!
Just made this with cacao powder instead of cocoa powder (It was all I had), and it was amazing!!! Two thumbs up!!! ??
I’m so glad you loved the hot chocolate Milinh!! That means a lot to me. 🙂 I’m glad the cacao worked — thanks for sharing that tip!
Stumbled upon this recipe after a late night chocolate craving. I wanted chocolate goodness minus the sugar. I thought I would give this a shot- WOW. This was so good, I did not miss the sugar and my teenager even enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks so much! This will be in my rotation.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the hot chocolate Shawna! That means so much to me that you’re adding it to your rotation — thank you for sharing that with me! 🙂
Do you make your cashew milk yourself? Because mine has a lot more calories than yours (I used an unsweetened one, too!). Just a cup of cashew milk (200ml) gets me about double the amount of calories you have calculated.
I use Silk’s unsweetened cashew milk (this one), which has 25 calories per cup. 🙂
Does this keep well? Can I make a big batch and enjoy it over several days? It sound delicious and may be the perfect solution to my quest for a hot drink I actually want to drink! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Yes, you should be able to make a big batch, store it in the fridge, and reheat individual servings as needed! 🙂 I’m so excited to hear what you think of it Tanya!
I made this, it’s creamy And has a great chocolate tast .. but ifs rather bitter. I used the exact same brands of ingredients that you did – do you have any suggestions? I did the same number of drops as in your recipe, but I have not used liquid Stevia before so maybe my drops we’re not big enough?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Nan! Would you do me a quick favor? Try adding 6 drops of the vanilla stevia to ½ cup of unsweetened cashew milk. If you noticed the bitter taste when you take a sip, then it’s probably that you’re more sensitive to the taste of the stevia than other people. If you don’t notice a bitter taste, then go ahead and increase the amount of vanilla stevia in your hot chocolate until it tastes right — it’s totally fine to add more if that’s what tastes good to you! (The cocoa powder can taste bitter if there isn’t enough stevia in the hot chocolate!) Some people need to double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of vanilla stevia until it tastes right. Everyone’s taste buds are a little different and vary in sensitivity! 🙂
Great suggestion – Thank you! I will definitely try that. I had never tried cashew milk until I saw your recipe and I absolutely love it! ??♥️
It’s my pleasure, Nan! I’m SO glad you love the cashew milk!! 🙂